


Crystals in the Snow

by KCKenobi



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, Christmas Fluff, Family Shenanigans, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Humor, Ice Skating, Light-Hearted, Snow Day, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:08:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28272882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KCKenobi/pseuds/KCKenobi
Summary: While completing a training course on an icy planet, cadets Cody, Rex, and Kix find a creative way to cross a frozen lake.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody & CT-7567 | Rex, CT-6116 | Kix & CT-7567 | Rex
Comments: 30
Kudos: 120





	Crystals in the Snow

**Author's Note:**

> For blackkatmagic for a secret santa gift exchange :)

Cody had _seen_ snow before. Of course he had. In his ten years on Kamino, he’d seen it all—holograms of snowstorms, books about arctic regions, training on how to climb mountains in blizzards. He’d read all about Hoth and Kijimi and Illum and Maldo Kreis, memorized their terrains in every simulation. He knew snow. He knew ice. He knew everything.

But as he stood at the edge of Krownest’s largest frozen lake, he couldn’t help but feel as though he knew nothing at all.

“This’ll be easy.” To his right, Rex cracked his knuckles. “It’s solid ice. We’ll just walk across. We’re way faster than the other cadets, anyhow.”

“Are we sure it’s _solid_ ice?” said Kix, eying the lakeshore with a furrowed brow. “You know, a dip in those waters would mean hypothermia and frost bite and—”

“Alright, we get it,” Rex said, “you’re a medic. Now let’s just hurry up and capture the base before the other squads beat us to it.”

“Hold up.” Cody held up a hand, stopping Rex before he could step onto the ice plain. “Slow and steady. Don’t forget that General Shaak Ti designed this training exercise—that means there’s more to it than ‘hurrying up.’”

“There’s also more to it than standing around talking,” said Rex, but he shot a grin in Cody’s direction. “What’re your orders, Commander?”

Cody rolled his eyes, but felt himself warm at the jest—though technically none of them had been assigned yet, it was no secret that Cody would likely be sent straight to the top of the Third Systems Army. He’d been pulled out of general training countless times now, given courses and exercises the other cadets hadn’t been. And, though he wasn’t yet a leader in name, he was a leader.

“Test it out,” Cody said. “Gently. See if the ice will hold.”

Kix pushed Rex back and stepped gingerly onto the ice.

It shattered.

“ _Osi’kyr_ ,” Kix muttered as he shook off a damp boot. “No good. It won’t take our weight.”

“Speak for yourself, _vod_ ,” Rex said, his elbow finding Kix’s middle. “I did tell you to lay off the Roba pie—”

“I love how you think insulting me is effective,” Kix said, “when I am literally physically identical to you.”

“Alright, men,” Cody said, biting back his own smile, “we’re burning daylight. Now, we’ve established that stepping straight on the ice isn’t going to work—”

“Thanks, Kix.”

“So we’ll have to distribute our weight somehow. Maybe we try lying down. Or…”

Cody’s voice trailed off as he watched Rex give another elbow to Kix’s stomach. Armor clanked against armor as the joint struck Kix’s ribs, though he didn’t feel a thing—the plastoid could stand up to a blaster bolt. _But maybe,_ Cody thought, _maybe that isn’t the only thing it’s useful for._

“Rex, take off your breastplate.”

Rex cocked an eyebrow. “Well gee, Commander, I’d think you’d at least buy me dinner first.”

“Backplate, too. And you, Kix.”

They did so, and Cody began to take off his own armor. He set the breastplate and backplate down on the icy ground, and pulled a roll of engine tape from his belt.

“Step on them and strap them to your boots. Like this.” He took the roll and wrapped it twice around, securing the armor to his left foot and then to his right. “It’ll distribute our weight more.”

Kix and Rex finished their own tape job, tossing the roll back to Cody. “It’s a good thought, Commander,” said Kix, “but how are we supposed to walk in these? I’m going to end up with a broken ankle—”

“We’re not going to walk.”

Cody stepped forward, to the edge of the ice, and finally let himself grin.

“We’re going to skate.”

—

From the mountaintop, Shaak Ti looked out across the icescape.

This place was strong in the Force—and for a moment, she was tempted to meditate while she waited, trusting the clone cadets would find their way without her watchful eye. They were a good group, at any rate—promising, filled with heart and humor and a humanity she only wished the rest of the galaxy could see. This exercise wouldn’t challenge them the way it had some other cadets, no. But perhaps, she decided, it would bring them some wisdom.

And just as Shaak Ti was about to close her eyes, she caught a flicker of movement on the horizon. Her gaze went straight to it— _there_ , out on the lake, something metallic was twinkling. Clone armor. Except…

She squinted.

That…wasn’t quite the way clone armor was meant to be worn.

Out on the ice, the three cadets were holding onto each other—hands gripping shoulders and forearms, lending balance to one another and gaining it in return. From so far away, most would call them identical. Like the snowflakes that flurried by, most afforded only a quick glance at each, seeing flake after flake after flake the same.

But it was no so, not to Shaak Ti. Not to the viewer who knew how to look.

And so, there they went—Cody, Rex, Kix. Laughing and pulling each other forward. Twirling on makeshift skates, cackling when Kix nearly fell, shouting something unintelligible from afar but the sentiment of joy carrying to the highest snowy peaks. Rex spun around with exaggerated glee. Kix clung nervously to his arm. Even Cody, usually the quieter of the bunch, was laughing so hard he wobbled on his feet.

And Shaak Ti smiled.

Because, yes—like snowflakes, they shared similarities. They were small parts of a bigger storm, small parts that many failed to see.

And yet, like snowflakes, they tumbled through different winds—winds that forged different journeys and shaped different souls, some squalls and some blizzards, some flurries or whirlwinds. Even two falling side by side could never be identical. Though formed from the same frigid air, the crystals in each were distinct.

And as she leaned against the wind, snow twirling around her montrals, Shaak Ti could see it within them—in Cody, in Rex, in Kix—the crystal light of all they’d come to be.

She closed her eyes and let their laughter coat her like the snow.

**Author's Note:**

> (okayokayokay I know Cody, Rex, and Kix would’ve finished their training before Shaak Ti was ever on Kamino to oversee it, but—I just wanted some soft winter fun with this gang instead of having a menacing Kaminoan drill sergeant in the story lol.)
> 
> This was for a secret santa gift exchange, and it was fun and totally different for me since I usually focus on Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka! Hope you enjoyed it! Comments and kudos always appreciated 😊
> 
> Come gush about star wars with me on tumblr: [ kckenobi ](https://kckenobi.tumblr.com/)


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